Track suspended multiple panel door



Oct. 10, 1961 Filed May 28. 1959 R. a. FERRIS 3,003,551

TRACK SUSPENDED MULTIPLE PANEL DOOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 &

Way n Oct. 10, 1961 R. G. FERRIS 3,003,551

TRACK SUSPENDED MULTIPLE PANEL DOOR Filed May 28, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PIE 4 44 4 115-5 W4 4 I], 45 50 AIIHVIIIIIIIIIIIIJVIIIIIIAHIII'IIII, V 45 40 4 mn E II 4 HIIHIIIKO IIIIR 1 Mil 4 F1157 40 4] 1| 5* HI I,

1 WIN; IHI'I 5 I 5 FIE. E1 5 United States Patent Filed May 28, 1959, Ser. No. 816,633 1 Claim. (Cl. 160-196) This invention relates to a track suspended multiple panel door and, more particularly to such a door in which the door panels are maintained in precise alignment during movement thereof from one position to another but have free motion therebetween whereby adjacent door panels may shift easily one relative to the other to provide smolgth operation of the door in its movements along the trac In the past a multiple panel track-supported door has usually been constructed with butt hinges joining adjacent door panels and with adjacent panel edges in contact. It has been necessary to'yank and push the door to make it travel around corners as guided by a curve in the overhead track.

A feature of the present invention is the construction of a multiple panel door supportable from an overhead track by trolleys in which adjacent door panels have their adjacent side edges spaced one from the other and upper and lower hinges interconnect adjacent door panels with the lower hinge comprising a pair of hinge sections connected one to each of the adjacent door panels and said hinge sections are interconnected for both pivotal and shifting movements one relative to the other. The shifting of the lower hinge sections enables 'the bottoms of adjacent door panels to come together or spread apart as required when the track supporting the door is not level and the trolleys adjust to the condition of the track to equally support the door load and when the door passes along a curve in the overhead track. A multiple panel door supported from an overhead track having a curve therein in which the present invention has utility is disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 761,488,

. filed September 17, 1958.

The invention is illustrated in ings in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical elevation of a multiple panel door with the overhead track shown in section and with sections broken away to thus illustrate the leading and trailing ends of the door and a pair of intermediate door panels and their hinge connections;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the lower hinge sections free of association with door panels;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section of the lower hinge sections shown in FIG. 2 and shown in located" but unattached relation with a pair of door panels appearing in broken line;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section of one of the lower hinge sections taken generally along the lines 4-4 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 5 is a vertical section of the other lower hinge section taken generally along the line 55 in FIG. 7;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of said one lower hinge section shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the other lower hinge section;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a nut strip; and

FIG. 9 is a vertical elevation of the nut strip shown in FIG. 8.

As shown in FIG. 1, the multiple door panel comprises a series of panels 10, 11, 12 and 13 with the panel 10 being the leading panel and the panel 13 being the trailing panel in one direction of movement of the door. This relation is reversed when the door travels in the opposite direction. The door is supported from an overhead track 14 in which a series of trolleys 15, 16 and 17 are movably mounted. The trolley 15 is arranged to support the accompanying draw- 3,003,551 Patented Oct. 10, 1961 the leading edge of the leading door 10 while the trolley 17 supports the trailing edge of the trailing door panel 13. A trolley 16 is positioned to overlie the space between each pair of adjacent panels intermediate the length of the door. The door has many difierent uses, one specific example, thereof, being a closure for an aircraft hangar entrance. The door also may serve as a part1- tion for dividing a large hangar area into smaller spaces. For these uses the door panels 10, 11, 12 and 13 are relatively tall and narrow. Although four panels are shown, a door may consist of any desired number of panels with the connection therebetween being as shown in connection with panels 11 and 12.

The trolley is disclosed and described in my co-pending application, previously referred to, however, br1efly, the trolley comprises a truck 20 which supports a pair of wheels 21 and 22 which roll in the track 14. A stirrup 23 is pivotally connected to the truck 20 by means of a pin 24 and pivotally supports a plate 25 to WhlCh a threaded trolley bolt 26 is attached. Each of the trolleys 15, 16 and 17 are of the same construction. The stirrup 23 of each of the trolleys extends downwardly from the tubular track 14 through a slot 27 extending along the underside of the track. The trolley 15 is connected to the door panel 10 by means of a top plate 30' attached to the top of the door panel 10 and which extends outwardly beyond the leading edge thereof to receive the trolley bolt 26 which is attached thereto.

The trolley 17 is attached to the trailing door panel 13 by means of a top plate31 which is attached to the top of the door panel 13 and which has the trolley bolt 26 attached thereto.

The panels 11 and 12 are illustrative of door panels intermediate the end of the door. The panels 11 and 12 are disposed in spaced relation with the adjacent side edges 32 and 33 of the door panels 11 and 12 spaced one from the other. These door panels are supported by the trolley 16 with the trolley bolt 26 connected to an upper hinge composed of relatively fiat elongated hinge plates 34 and 35 fastened to the tops of the door panels 11 and 12, respectively. The end of the hinge plate 34 is offset whereby the hinge plates may overlap each other to have the trolley bolt 26 extend through openings (not shown) therein. A pair of nuts 36 and 37 fasten the upper hinge to the trolley bolt 26 whereby the intermediate door panels 11 and 12 are supported by the trolley 16. The bolt 26 has a surrounding bushing (not shown) and forms a pivotal hinge pin.

The intermediate door panels 11 and 1-2 are connected adjacent their bottoms by a lower hinge having a pair of relatively fi-at elongated hinge plates 40 and 41 which are connected to the door panels 11 and 12, respectively, by means of bolts 42 which pass through openings 43 and 44 in the respective hinge plates and are threaded into nuts 45. The nuts 45 are attached to plates 46 secured to the lower edges of the door panels 11 and 12.

Means are provided to enable the bottoms of the adjacent door panels to come together or to spread apart to allow for variations in the levelness of the track and thus allow all of the trolleys to ride along the track 14 with equal loads thereon while still maintaining alignment of the doors. This means comprises a free acting hinge connection for the lower hinge and particularly as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 the hinge plate 40 is provided with an elongated slot 50 extending lengthwise thereof which receives a pivot pin 51 for movement along the length of the slot. The pin 51 is carried by a guide bushing 52 secured to the hinge plate 41 by means such as welding. The pin 51 is maintained in position by the headed end thereof which is of a size greater than the width of the slot 50 and a cotter pin 53 extended through the pin above the guide bushing 52. The hinge plates 40 and. 41 are 3 maintained in their normal relation by confinement of the hinge plate 40 between the headed end of the pin 51 and the lower end of the guide bushing 52 as well as the lower surface of the hinge plate 41.

The upper and lower hinges disclosed herein are utilized to support each pair of adjacent door panels in a multiple panel door with adjacent side edges of adjacent doors being spaced apart to permit the movement of the panel bottoms toward and away from each other.

With the spacing of adjacent door panels and the free acting hinge construction disclosed herein, it is possible for the door trolleys to adjust themselves to an out of level condition of the overhead track 14 whereby the load of the door may be equalized among the trolleys. The free acting hinge provides free aligned motion between the door panels and thus renders the door panels free to swing either in or out at the bottom as the door panels pass around a horizontal curve in the overhead track 14.

With the arrangement and construction disclosed herein, each door panel may follow a path which it would follow if unattached to other adjacent panels with each hinge pin 52 remaining in the true path of door travel as defined by the trolley track 14. The adjustment of door panels toward and away from each other in a vertical plane is permitted by a loose fitting connection between the upper hinge leaves and thus the upper hinges articulate vertically as well as horizontally.

The door disclosed herein will thus perform satisfactorily with a relatively weak building structure which will sometimes shift due to its relative weakness. The building shift can result in track 114 shifting out of level but will not result in undesirable effects on the door because of the doors ability to adjust to such conditions. The spacing between doors is spanned by flashing carried on a door panel and which is attached after installation of the door.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness in understanding, and no unnecessary limitation should be understood therefrom, as modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

In a track suspended multiple panel door, in combination: a Series of relatively tall and narrow door panels disposed in succession with the side edges of adjacent panels spaced apart a distance sufficient to define a space to permit swinging of one panel relative to the other; an upper hinge including a pair of hinge sections rigidly connected one to each of adjacent panels on the top thereof; a trolley disposed above said hinge with a connector extending from the trolley defining a hinge pivot for said upper hinge sections positioned centrally of said space between adjacent panel side edges; and a lower hinge including a pair of hinge sections connected one to each of 1 said adjacent panels adjacent the bottom thereof, one of said lower hinge sections having an elongated slot lengthwise thereof and the other section carrying a hinge pin positioned in the slot and centrally of said space and movably mounted lengthwise of the slot whereby there is play between the door panels to permit shift of adjacent panels toward and away from each other while maintaining the panels in precise alignment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

